Three of Algoa Motorsport Club’s rising motorcycle talents will be making the scenic trip to Killarney International Raceway this weekend for the Livingstone Baths 8-Hour Endurance Race. Ashton Heidemann and Ethan Diener will join Cape Town riders Ryan van Niekerk and Arno Erasmus in Mitch Robinson’s Mag Workshop Team on board a Honda CBR 150 motorcycle, and Dylan Grobler will join the Red Beard Racing Team.
Image by Darryl Kukard
18-year-old Heidemann has had a phenomenal season, showing great racecraft and pace, which led to him clinching the CBR 150 Breakfast Run Class and getting second place in the Index of Performance in the Klinicare 100 endurance race. He has also taken 14-year-old Ethan Diener under his wing and will act as his coach and mentor for the new season.
Diener, who is a pupil at DF Malherbe High School, started racing in 2019 on a mini moto before moving on to the NSF100 class and then onto the CBR 150 this season, where he performed consistently, claiming 3rd overall in the closely contested Junior Club Championship behind Dylan Grobler and Damian Oberholzer.
14-year-old Dylan Grobler, from Framesby High School, will join the Red Beard Racing Team alongside Cape Town riders Jurg Steyn, Oliver Hintehaus and Tristan Pienaar.
Grobler won both the NSF100 & CBR 150 Junior Championships in what can only be considered a season of ups and downs, but with both grit and determination proved that he has what it takes to become a true champion.
All three of the local riders have come through the local NSF 100 Development program that Motorsport South Africa has given their blessing to. The South African Motorcycle Racing Academy (SAMRA) is the brainchild of Johannesburg-based businessman Neil Harran who has the backing of Honda South Africa, who supply identical motorcycles to both the Johannesburg-based academy and the Algoa Motorsport Academy. The local academy caters for eight youngsters and is run by the husband and wife team of Glen and Lucille Elliot. They have seen this programme has already borne fruit, with local superstar Roche Moodley competing internationally in the Red Bull Rookies Cup.
